A 1993 comedy directed by Creator/ChrisColumbus and starring Creator/RobinWilliams, about a man who [[WholesomeCrossdresser crossdresses]] as an elderly British woman in order to see his kids again. It co-stars Creator/SallyField, Creator/PierceBrosnan, Matthew Lawrence, and Creator/MaraWilson.

Daniel Hillard (Williams) is a newly unemployed actor in a rocky marriage. One day, after going behind his wife's back and throwing a wild birthday party for their son, his wife, Miranda (Field), is finally tired of his antics and asks for a divorce. Only allowed to see their three children once a week, Daniel tries to get a new job and shape up his life so that he may receive joint custody. He discovers that Miranda is looking for a nanny to take care of the kids after school. She won't allow him to babysit them, so with the aid of his make-up artist brother, Daniel disguises himself as Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire, an elderly, matronly Scottish woman. He is quickly hired by his ex-wife and uses the opportunity to secretly spend time with his children. Things get more complicated, though, as Miranda starts dating an old friend, Stu (Brosnan), and Daniel finds that his family can't bear to part with Mrs. Doubtfire.

A rare TwelfthNightAdventure in western media. Based on the book ''Madame Doubtfire''[[note]]called ''Alias Madame Doubtfire'' in the USA[[/note]] by Anne Fine, this was one of Robin Williams' biggest hits and finished its theatrical run 2nd behind ''Film/HomeAlone'' (another Chris Columbus film) as the highest-grossing live-action comedy of all time. The film won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and the Golden Globe for Best Comedy. It is ranked #67 on AFI's list of top 100 funniest films and #40 on Bravo's list of "100 Funniest Movies of All Time."

A sequel was announced, but in the wake of Robin Williams' death in August 2014, [[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/mrs-doubtfire-2-likely-cancelled-following-robin-williams-tragic-death-9663371.html this now seems unlikely.]] A musical adaptation is also in the works.

----!!Shows examples of:* AllWorkVsAllPlay: Miranda and Daniel. This is what prompts their divorce.* AmbiguousSyntax: When Daniel tells Mr. Lundy about bumping into his old girlfriend at the bathroom:--> '''Lundy''': Hey, does your girlfriend have a girlfriend?\\'''Daniel''': [[LesYay Hey, it's the '90s.]]\\'''Lundy''': No, I mean, does she have a lady friend for ''me''?* AttractiveBentGender: The bus driver seems to think so, regarding Mrs. Doubtfire.* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: Or in this case, the PG rating. Supposedly, the scene in Bridges Restaurant where Mrs. Doubtfire says numerous [[DoubleEntendre double entendres]] to Stu was pretty much the main reason the film got a PG-13 rating; otherwise, it might've squeaked by with a PG. The scene where the kids find out Ms. Doubtfire's identity also calls for a PG-13 rating.** Notably, the UK version has several of the most saucy double entendres removed from this scene in order to make a BBFC PG rating, as the next step up is 12, which is rather restrictive for what is seen as a family comedy.* BecomingTheMask: While Daniel never loses himself in the Mrs. Doubtfire character, she certainly does grow beyond his original plan and takes on a life of her own, and by the end of the film he enjoys being her simply for being her, because she brings out the good in people including Daniel himself.** This also applies to his parenting and housekeeping. At first Daniel has to pretend to be the ideal babysitter and housekeeper as Mrs. Doubtfire in order to stay employed by Miranda, by doing things like make the kids do homework and chores before they can goof off (something he would let them do as Daniel), and keep the house clean and make delicious meals to make their mom happy. Eventually these skills become so second-nature that even after the kids learn who he is, he keeps encouraging them to balance fun with responsibilities, and he cooks and keeps house at his own place as well as Miranda's.* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Daniel and Miranda remain divorced, but are on better terms with each other and Daniel is allowed to see the kids anytime he wants. This was substituted for the original ending where they do get back together, which was opposed by Chris Columbus, Robin Williams, and Sally Field (all divorcees) who thought it would give false hope to children of divorced couples.]]* {{Bowdlerise}}: [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub's]] showing of the film takes scissors to everything from snippets of dialog to entire scenes. Dubbing over Frank saying "Bitch"? Perfectly understandable. Cutting the scene when Mrs. Doubtfire asserts her authority and makes the kids do chores because they won't do their homework? Hurts the film and makes the kids feel like props rather than characters. Oh, and Miranda can't say "Hell" but "Lotsa luck, Smart Ass" was fine.** Some of the edits likely have more to do with the fact that [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub]] is attempting to fit a two and a half hour movie into a two hour timeslot. AMC's edit of the film bizarrely mutes Robin Williams saying "damn", but 5-year-old Mara Wilson can say "damn" in the same exact context.* BrickJoke: Frank is teased as one of Mrs. Doubtfire's future guests.* CampGay: Daniel's brother (played by Harvey Fierstein, no less) and his partner.* ChekhovsSkill: At "her" interview, Mrs. Doubtfire's resume states that she knows first aid, including the Heimlich Maneuver. This apparently isn't a lie (like the rest of the qualifications clearly are), as Daniel ends up needing to administer the Maneuver to Stuart later on.* ClarkKenting: Averted. The multi-faceted disguise combined with Daniel/Robin's utterly brilliant performance has been known to make even audience members occasionally forget Mrs. Doubtfire's fictionality.** The crew had Williams test it out by going into a store in full Doubtfire gear and manner to see if anyone could spot that it was a disguise. Everyone took him as a sweet, if quite tall, old lady.* CompensatingForSomething: Mrs. Doubtfire uses this trope regarding Stu's car to mock him, outright stating that men buys big cars to compensate for their small genitals.* CrazyJealousGuy: Daniel over Stuart and Miranda. Starts off as Petty Jealousy Guy but definitely becomes crazy when he spikes his food with pepper (which Stuart is allergic to). * DeadpanSnarker: Daniel, even when he's Mrs. Doubtfire.* DemotedToExtra: In-universe example. Early in the movie, Mr. Sprinkles is the painfully boring star of a failing children's show. At the end of the movie, he's replaced by Mrs. Doubtfire and is demoted to her mailman. ** Played with a bit, since it was implied the Mr. Sprinkles actor was going to get the axe entirely, and so it's rather heartwarming to see that, even with his show gone, they still found a place for him to continue acting.* DivorceIsTemporary: Defied (see below).* EdibleBludgeon: Daniel under the guise of Mrs. Doubtfire does not take kindly to Stuart calling him a loser, and pelts him in the back of the head with a lime.** [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "Oh, it was a run-by fruiting!"]]* {{False Soulmate}}s: Daniel and Miranda divorce and never get back together. * EstablishingCharacterMoment: An extremely awkward one. In the opening scene, Daniel quits his job in protest of a cartoon having a cute little bird smoking a cigarette. So we're supposed to sympathize with him because he stands up for his principles. Except it was 1993, not 1953. No children's cartoon in the world would've glamorized smoking at that time, much less any station air it. Were it not for this scene, we would've been introduced to Daniel losing (another) job, ignoring his wife's wish not to throw a party for a grounded child, and destroying the house with a wild party. It would've been hard not to side with Miranda with the irresponsible husband and father angle. But because he's opposed to kids smoking, he must be a good guy. (Subverted later on when Daniel has Mrs. Doubtfire insist on seating his children in the smoking section of the restaurant to avoid getting a table near Mr. Lundy.)* FatSuit: Really, the only way Daniel (Robin Williams) could appear as "Mrs Doubtfire" around his kids was to utilize this with sort of (heavy) makeup. [See ClarkKenting, above.] Given that, ''anything'' that changed his appearance on a large enough scale would have worked; the fact that "Mrs Doubtfire" appeared to be an elderly, overweight, nanny was rather incidental to the behavior....* FirstFatherWins: DoubleSubverted, Daniel gets divorced, but he still is the preferred father in the eyes of the kids.* AFoolForAClient: Daniel, at his second custody hearing. It all comes tumbling down.* GenreBlindness: Really? Attempt to [[TwoTimerDate attend the same event as two people]]? WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong** To be fair, he tried to get out of the birthday dinner ''and'' move the business meeting, but both failed. Besides, the TwoTimerDate did go well, until it was botched thanks to LaserGuidedKarma. * GettingCrapPastTheRadar: It stars Creator/RobinWilliams, what did you expect?-->'''Mrs. Doubtfire:''' Don't ''fuss'' with me.-->'''Mrs. Doubtfire:''' Ok, whatever you think, dear, I'll get the ''frock'' out of here!** A lot of snarky lines cross into this as well. ** How the kids found out that Mrs. Doubtfire is Daniel.** Lastly, something which likely went over the head over most of the children at the final trial scene is that the judge is implying that Daniel is a DepravedHomosexual, unable to be trusted with his kids.** Not to mention the BilingualBonus you get when you know what he says in Yiddish while disguised as an old woman...-->'''Old Woman''': I should never buy gribenes[[note]]fried "chicken"(?) skins[[/note]] from a Mohel[[note]]circumciser. A shande indeed... [[/note]] . It's so chewy! * GilliganCut: Early in the film, Daniel's brother is trying to console him about his impending divorce, but Daniel assures him that it's just a temporary thing and will soon blow over. Cut to Daniel and his wife standing in court hearing a judge discuss custody arrangements.* GoneHorriblyRight: Daniel does such a good job as Mrs. Doubtfire, that when he himself has shown to be a competent parent (thanks to the skills he's learned as Doubtfire), Miranda won't consider letting him watch the kids outside his visitation rights because she and the kids can't bear to let go of Mrs. Doubtfire.* HoistByHisOwnPetard: If Daniel hadn't decided to spike Stu's dinner, he wouldn't have had to stop him from choking thus most likely keeping his identity as Mrs. Doubtfire safe.... at least for the time being.* HoldingBothSidesOfTheConversation: The caseworker for the divorce makes a surprise visit to Daniel's apartment to check up on him, but comes while he's still in disguise. Daniel!Doubtfire covers for it by claiming that she's his sister. The caseworker calls his bluff, but Daniel gets around this by going into a room to "get" him; while in the room, where the caseworker can't see him, he loudly holds both sides of the conversation as himself and Mrs. Doubtfire, all while changing out of disguise.* HurricaneOfPuns: When Daniel is changing out of the Mrs. Doubtfire disguise during the social worker's visit.-->'''Daniel''': "Oh yeah, it's something I can really sink my teeth into!" *removes false teeth* -->"It's like I don't have the same face anymore!" *removes mask** IdiotBall: Miranda divorced Daniel, whom she supposedly was well aware of his skill with voices and fast talking. Yet all these strange, surreal nannies responding to her ads never sets off an internal flag that her ex-husband could be behind them.* IMeantToDoThat: [[spoiler:Done successfully by Daniel at the end of the movie. When he realizes that he accidentally sat down at his boss' table while dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire, he tells his boss that "Mrs. Doubtfire" is his idea for a new children's show character. It works so well that he ends up getting his own TV show.]] * [[INeverSaidItWasPoison I Never Said It Was Divorce]]: -->'''Miranda Hillard:''' They are very upset with me right now.-->'''Mrs. Doubtfire:''' Probably the divorce.-->'''Miranda Hillard:''' How did you know?** Mrs. Doubtfire backed this up by saying she can tell by the way Lydia talked about her dad.* {{Jerkass}}: Daniel's boss Tony in the shipping department.* LateArrivalSpoiler: The back of the original book cover features a summary of the story's plot, but actually makes no mention about Daniel and Mrs. Doubtfire being the same person (only stating that Miranda has hired a peculiar nanny to watch over them). This suggests that Doubtfire really being Daniel was meant to be a surprise to the reader. However, most people are likely more familiar with the film adaptation, so very likely, anyone who reads the book will already know going in what's happening.* LatexPerfection: A rare realistic version, thanks to Daniel's makeup artist brother Frank. Behind the scenes, the film very deservingly won the Academy Award for Best Makeup.** Although in real life there's no way Williams could have donned that makeup so quickly (and repeatedly). He actually spent 4½ hours a day having it applied.* LineOfSightName: The name Doubtfire came from a newspaper headline ("Police Doubt Fire Was Accidental").* LiteralMetaphor--> '''Miranda:''' How did your husband die?--> '''Mrs. Doubtfire:''' He was quite fond of the drink. It was the drink that killed him.--> '''Miranda:''' How awful, he was an alcoholic?--> '''Mrs. Doubtfire:''' No, he was hit by a Guinness truck, so it was quite literally the drink that killed him.* LittleBlackDress* MuggingTheMonster: A would-be mugger tries to steal Mrs Doubtfire's purse. Mrs Doubtfire [[NeverMessWithGranny fights him off]], yelling at the man in Daniel's normal voice (which scares the crap out of the snatcher and some bystanders), then goes over to Mrs. Doubtfire's voice "Broke my bag, the bastard!"* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Mrs. Doubtfire realizes that Stu is choking from the shrimp with the cayenne pepper, she quips, "Oh no, I killed the bastard!"* NeverMessWithGranny: "Don't...fuss with me."* NeverTrustATrailer: This film is good, and it has funny moments. It is not, however, a light wacky romp. * NobodyPoops: Averted.* OhCrap: When Miranda tells Mrs. Doubtfire that the court worker told her about an old woman going to Daniel's home, followed by a scary stare and saying "I need to ask you something." You can practically see the horror in Daniel's face. Luckily, it was about Mrs. Doubtfire's personal life.* OohMeAccentsSlipping: In-universe and lampshaded. Daniel's accent for Mrs. Doubtfire is a second-hand, sort of bastardized Scottish accent and occasionally slips into others from the region. Stu, who's actually from the UK where accents are a big part of culture, points this out when he first meets "her". Daniel just barely covers by responding that she moved around a lot in her life.** In one of the more serious moments in the movie, Miranda confides in Mrs. Doubtfire that she's happier when she's not around Daniel. Daniel briefly and subtly drops his Doubtfire accent to say, "Well you never..." before catching himself and continuing the conversation in the Doubtfire accent. Luckily for him, Miranda didn't catch on.* OppositesAttract: Defied and Deconstructed with Daniel and Miranda. As Miranda tells "Mrs. Doubtfire," she fell for Daniel because he was so funny and carefree, unlike all the stuffy people she worked with in the corporate office, but then [[RealityEnsues "after a few years it stopped being funny."]] Then, of course, the film gives us plenty of examples of how hard it is to build a life and raise a family with someone with such [[AllWorkVsAllPlay such polar opposite values in the long run]].-->'''Miranda:''' We're too different, Daniel. We don't have anything in common!\\'''Daniel:''' Sure we do! We love each other!\\'''Miranda:''' [[HeelRealization ...]]\\'''Daniel:''' We love each other... don't we?* ParentheticalSwearing: "Don't '''fuss''' with me."* [[PrecisionFStrike Precision S-Strike]]: When Daniel's mask falls out of the window, lands in the road, and then gets run over by a garbage truck.** This.--> '''Natalie:''' We're his goddamn kids, too! \\'''Miranda:''' [[WhatTheHellHero Any other choice phrases you'd like to teach our five-year-old, Daniel]]?** There's a rather clever aversion that still gets the point across perfectly; when "Mrs. Doubtfire" is watching the children for the first time, and gives them the task of helping with the housework, the kids rebel, only to have Daniel, in character, give a small grin: "Don't ''fuss'' with me."* RealityEnsues: When Daniel is finally caught and forced to come before the judge, the judge tells him that if you want to prove yourself a competent, capable parent figure, dressing up like an elderly Scottish nanny and posing as a housekeeper to defy court orders isn't going to help. Daniel ''did'' meet the judge's demands, ahead of schedule as he points out, but his behavior as Mrs. Doubtfire did far more damage to his case than any of the good he did for it, which justifies his loss of visitation rights but gives Daniel the message that he'd be better off a divorced father than a nanny. ** The same applies to Miranda and Daniel's marriage. Initially the two fell in love because OppositesAttract, but the film show in the long run their polar opposite work ethics, values, and life goals brought out the worst in each other and caused the two to fight non-stop until they finally split up.** The original plan was to have Daniel and Miranda get back together at the end of the movie, but Williams, Field, and Columbus (all divorcees themselves) changed it to having them not because they felt as if it was too unrealistic. Some marriages really ''don't'' work out, but that doesn't mean that the parents don't love the kids anymore.* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:** The judge is sympathetic to Daniel during the initial proceedings, saying that he's an obviously loving father and it would be unfair to grant Miranda sole custody simply because she's the mother. He gives him 90 days to find a stable job and create a suitable living space, after which he offers to consider joint custody. Once Daniel is exposed, he does still seem to be sympathetic, but notes that his behavior has done far more damage to his case than good.** Jonathan Lundy, the head of the studio, accepts Daniel's criticism of his work, and is willing to give him his own show when he sees how creative he is. [[spoiler: When Daniel accidentally exposes himself as Mrs. Doubtfire, Lundy is impressed enough to give him his own show starring her, rather than disturbed]].* RightInFrontOfMe: Daniel complains at work about an extremely boring children's program that's shooting...to the executive who allowed the program to air. When he finds out exactly who he's talking to, Daniel introduces himself as a "former employee." Luckily for him, his boss agrees with the criticism.* RomanticFalseLead: Averted. Maranda's new boyfriend Stu is portrayed as a perfectly decent guy who seems to be a stable and mature father for the kids. His sole bad moment is when he badmouths Daniel by the poolside, but that's easily justified for a number of reasons (he hurt Maranda, for one) and he never speaks ill of Daniel in earshot of the children.* RuleOfFunny, HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: Daniel eventually gets the job as nanny using the voice of an elderly British woman after terrifying his ex-wife with a series of comically inept "applications". Yet, when he goes to be disguised as a woman, he then tries out several different looks (which call for quite different voices, including a Cuban woman and a Russian woman) first. This makes no sense and only happens due to Rule of Funny. Several reviewers criticized the movie for stopping dead in its tracks several times to let Williams riff in a movie that crosses the two-hour mark.* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Daniel does this when his fake breasts catch fire during the cooking scene. * ScyllaAndCharybdis: Hand-in-hand with the TwoTimerDate.* {{Secret Keeper}}s: [[spoiler: Lydia and Chris become this to their father after Chris [[UnsettlingGenderReveal accidentally walks in on Mrs. Doubtfire in the bathroom]].]]** CannotKeepASecret: [[spoiler:They also agree not to let Natalie in on Daniel's ruse because of this.]]* ShoutOut: The ShowWithinAShow Daniel ends up working on as "Mrs. Doubtfire" is pretty much MisterRogersNeighborhood with a female host.** Daniel even states that Mr. Rogers is Mick Jagger compared to the host of the boring children's program.* StalkingIsLove: Unusually, it's a man stalking his whole family rather than just his ex-wife.* StealthInsult: Stu is on the receiving end of a great many of these from Daniel while in disguise. * TakingTheKids: And the house.* TalkingToHimself: When recording lines for a cartoon, Daniel is doing the voices for both present characters. [[invoked]] * TerribleIntervieweesMontage: InvokedTrope. In order for him to get Miranda's housekeeping job, Daniel changes the telephone number on the classified ad before it's sent to the newspaper, then calls Miranda's number as terrible interviewees before breaking out what would be Mrs. Doubtfire.* ThrowItIn: The movie's opening scene has Daniel recording lines for a cartoon, and improvising dialogue that wasn't in the script. He does this out of protest against the animation's innocuous portrayal of smoking, considering it inappropriate for children. This leads to him getting fired yet again. [[invoked]]* ToiletSeatDivorce: The immediate cause of their divorce is that Daniel threw a birthday party for their son despite Miranda's veto (which, in turn, was a response to the son's poor grades). However, later in the film, Miranda reveals to Mrs. Doubtfire that she'd spent the last few years overworked to compensate for Daniel's chronic unemployment and frustrated with his reckless parenting style.** Earlier in the film, Lydia told Mrs. Doubtfire that she made her mom so happy than she's ever seen before. In fact, Lydia states that she can't even remember the last time her mom was ''ever'' happy.** When he first returned home as Mrs. Doubtfire, he asked if the sole reason she divorced him is because he doesn't appreciate the way she organizes the condiments in the kitchen. It wasn't.* {{Troll}}: Daniel calling Miranda in the TerribleIntervieweesMontage.* TwoTimerDate: Daniel both has to appear with his family as the nanny while also having a dinner with his boss. [[spoiler: He ends up exposing himself to his family in the process.]]* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: At the start of the movie, Daniel saying "Sure we do [have something in common], we love each other" during an argument with Miranda causes her to suddenly realize she doesn't love him anymore, and she wants a divorce, kicking off the plot of the film.* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Stu vanishes from the film following the disastrous dinner with zero explanation--is he still dating Miranda but just unseen, did he dump her because he can't deal with all the craziness, etc?** He probably disappears from the story because at first, Daniel and Miranda were going to get back together, until it was changed to them remaining divorced at the end of the film (at the insistence of Robin Williams, Sally Field, and director Chris Columbus). ** The elderly bus driver who was crushing on Mrs. Doubtfire also disappears, never finding out the truth about her identity.* WholesomeCrossdresser: Daniel.* WildTeenParty: Subverted. Somehow inviting all the toddlers in the neighborhood, renting a petting zoo, and a pony for your son doesn't sound very great for a 12-year-old boy. Especially to risk your marriage over.* YouRemindMeOfX: Mrs. Doubtfire's humor reminds Miranda of her ex-husband's, and for good reason.